Tea Room
by Jennjennr
Summary: What a day this had been, first she woke up to an ice cold room from the surprise blizzard that had struck, then Ino gets the bright idea to stalk Neji.Winter was never Sakura's favorite season. Based on the drawing Neji Tea Room by ByakuganLove.


_Well, this story really came out of the picture: Neji Tea Room by ByakuganLove. I adore this image and well though I doubt this is the sort of pairing she thought of from the pic, I couldn't help but notice that Sakura is the only one not watching Neji with a blush, leaving her open for... well this story. Please leave a review and tell me what you think and if I should continue. _

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"Oh my god there he is!" Ino squealed loudly in the other girls' ears as she spotted the male they had been looking for sitting quietly in the small tea room of a quaint establishment. Sitting on the table in front of the male was a pot of hot tea and a vase with cherry blossoms which were out of season if the raging snow storm outside had anything to say about the season.

Thank goodness for the girls the male had his ear buds firmly in his ears and his soothing music playing drowning out Ino's loud voice. Looking out into the snow he was lost in his own world, not noticing the four girls who were squished into the front of the little tea house he was in watching him and trying –but failing miserably- to be stealthy. Ino was using Tenten and Sakura's heads and a boost to get the best look, a blush bright on her face not caring as she smooshed Sakura into the wall. Sakura wasn't even looking at the boy she was trying to get Ino's grasping fingers out of her hair, while Tenten was too in awe of the boy to care. Hinata was silently looking at him from behind the barrier a blush bright on her pale face as well.

She couldn't believe she had gone along on this wild chase looking for her cousin. When Tenten had started gushing about how good looking Neji was Ino couldn't be stopped as she dragged the three other girls all over town –in the middle of a snow storm no less- to look for the café haired male.

Now she felt like a spy for watching him without his knowledge. Sure in the last few years they had grown close as cousins but she still was as shy around him as she was around anyone, the only other person she had ever watched like this was Naruto-kun and she really didn't want to give the impression that she felt for Neji-nii what she did for Naruto-kun.

"Ino would you get your fat hands out of my hair! I'm loosing follicles from my scalp and it's _hurting!_" Sakura hissed, her hair being pulled as her face was smashed into the ice cold glass of the door she had just been dragged though. What a day this had been, first she woke up to an ice cold room from the surprise blizzard that had struck, then her friends had all come over to find something to do when Ino gets the bright idea to stalk Neji.

Personally Sakura thought she had had enough stalking people from her obsession of Sasuke-kun years before but apparently Ino-pig knew no bounds and dragged her all across the village. And yes that was a literal drag because Sakura would have rather sat at home studying medical scrolls than freezing her tush off looking for some hot male in the middle of a storm, and she sure as heck would prefer to be eating dinner now rather than being mashed into a freezing cold door by her manic best friend.

"Shh! Forehead-girl, look there he is! Oooh Tenten-chan you were so right! He is sooooooo hot! Ugh Hinata-chan how can you stand it, I mean that hunk being in your house day after day, I bet you dream of doing the nasty with him all the time right? Oh and you Tenten-chan he's on your team ne? Oh ho, lucky you have you ever… you know tehe!" Ino giggled making the rosy cheeks of the two females much redder and only further infuriating Sakura more.

"Shut up you pig!" Sakura growled.

Just as the song on Neji's player had changed the elderly lady host had come up to his table to ask if he needed anything else.

"Young man," she smiled as the male quickly sat up and removed the buds from his ears in respect.

"Yes oba-sama?" he asked his voice low.

"Oh I just wanted to ask if you knew those lovely girls over there by the door, they've been staring at you for some time now." The grey haired lady smiled and pointed while three of the girls rosy cheeks turned pale white and the ducked out of the door, shoving Sakura further into the warm room, much to her delight.

Neji turned and looked in time to see three different heads of hair zoom out into the cold while a head of pink was shoved down and in leaving only Haruno Sakura in the place where once had been four girls.

'Haruno-san?' Neji thought, wondering why on earth she would be staring at him, but that was what the host had said. Getting up from his seat he walked over to the confused girl who looked up at him with wide eyes before looking around for her sneaky friends who had left her to fend against this wolf.

"Hurano-san, was there something you needed?" Neji asked in deep male tones that made the frozen female shiver more.

"Um, no, uh sorry Hyuuga-san, I was with um, well I ugh." Sakura faltered, what the hell was she supposed to do, she hadn't wanted to be here in the first place and now she was stuck talking to this guy she barely knew.

"The oba-san said you had been staring at me for awhile now… did you wish to speak to me?" as polite as ever the Branch child lead the chilled female back to his table and offered her a cup of his green tea. Not knowing what else to do the pink haired medic accepted the cup for if nothing else it would help warm her numb hands.

His calm silver eyes gazed into her green ones looking for… something. She had never sought to speak to him before this; he had only known her as the female on the famous Team 7, and the apprentice to the Godime Hokage. Why now of all times would she seek him out?

She had lifted the cup to her lips for a lack of anything better to do, and an excuse to keep from talking she took a small sip of the warm liquid. Pulling the cup away she bit her lip, what could she say now?

"Um, well Hyuuga-san I wasn't really looking for you, I was with my friends… and well I guess they sorta lost me somehow." She smiled lightly as she set her cup down cursing her chicken friends for leaving her in this situation.

"Aa, I see." Neji agreed though he really didn't see at all. How could her friends have lost her, not only was her hair a bright pink, but if from what she had said was pieced together they hadn't lost her but had left her.

"Hurano-san…" Neji began only to be cut off by Sakura raising her hand.

"Please, just Sakura, I get enough Hurano-san at the hospital." She smiled at him and he nodded his head again. Snorting inwardly Sakura couldn't help but feel like some country bumpkin next to Neji, he was calm, polite and so formal, while she had spent the last three or so years with Kakashi, Naruto, Tsunade, Ino, and the ever penis loving Sai that she felt she had to carefully watch whatever she said so as not to cause him an aneurism.

"So, what were your friends and yourself doing out in such weather?" he asked politely seeing that she had nothing to ask of him and not wanting to just sit in awkward silence with her sipping tea.

This question caused her to snort into her tea chocking slightly so that he sat up and lightly hit her on the back in assistance.

Recovering quickly Sakura stuttered out some lame excuse about shopping and boredom which only left more questions than answers in Neji's mind as to why she was in this tea house with him. Finally realizing he wasn't going to get a lucid answer from the female Neji gave up this line of questioning and decided to just sit back with her and enjoy the tea.

"So uh, Hyuuga-san-" Sakura began when like she had earlier Neji cut her off.

"Please, if I am to call you Sakura, you should call me Neji, no need for formalities."

"Heh heh, right. Ok Neji, um what are you doing out here? I mean my friends dragged me out here, there's no way I'd be out in this weather by choice if it weren't for them, so… why are you here?"

'Oh god, I'm babbling, great.' Thought Sakura grimacing up to look at a thoughtful Neji.

"I was out walking and saw this tea house," he shrugged his broad shoulders carelessly, "and just decided to have some tea."

"Hmm, I see." 'No I don't why in the heck were you out walking in this?! Stupid Ino, I hate the cold, I am never going to be warm tonight, and I still have to walk home.' Sakura thought to herself glancing out at the sleeting snow falling past the windows in a white blur. She wanted nothing more than to be in her little apartment wrapped up in a blanket sipping some hot drink reading a good book, no instead she had to be stuck here being polite to this prodigy sipping bitter tea in a ratty old sweater she had only managed to grab as Ino had yanked her out.

Taking another sip Sakura searched her brain for something else to ask Neji when he decided to hold up his end of the conversation and talk to her.

"I always love this sort of weather." He murmured quietly silver gaze stuck on the swirling snow outside the cold glass.

A frown found its way to Sakura's face.

"Really? You like it cold?" genuinely curious she turned her attention to him.

He nodded again still not looking from the window but lifting his cup to his lips. There was a slight pause as he drank sipping the lightly green liquid through his lips before silently swallowing it, all his moves precise and thought out. She wondered if he was ever spontaneous like her team. He seemed so methodical, it reminded her strongly of Sasuke-kun, she was always in awe when she had watched the Uchiha do anything, every single muscle movement was preplanned, thought out and executed flawlessly no wasted effort, nothing frivolous or showy… the similarity made her scowl. She really needed to stop thinking about Sasuke he was gone and that was that, he probably was never going to come back and she should just stop hoping, pining and wasting time wishing that he would.

"I have always loved winter, it is calming." Neji's baritone voice cut through Sakura's inner dialogue.

"Calming? I have never liked it, I prefer it warm, when I don't have to worry about what I wear, or turning on the heater if I don't want to freeze at night." Sakura answered scowling at the offensive snow.

"But," he almost whispered turning his molten silver gaze to her making her gasp at the intensity of it, "the quiet, have you ever just listened to the winter? All the other seasons are loud, yet in the winter all is calm, you can hear the weather, the earth, you just have to listen."

"Listen?"

"Yes, haven't you ever just listened to the winter?" Neji asked his words and eyes so warm that she couldn't look away if she needed to.

"I, no I don't suppose I have." Sakura answered feeling almost embarrassed about it.

Nodding Neji gestured for her to finish her tea as he too drank the last in his glass. Following suit Sakura gulped the remaining bitter tea as she set her glass down Neji took her hand in his before leading her out of the tea house into the blowing snow.

Sakura shivered as the wind ripped through her sweater chilling her skin making her lean into Neji for cover. He didn't seem to mind as he lead her thought the streets with a destination in mind.

Finally after a five minute walk through the cold Neji paused pulling away from the clinging girl to show her where they were. Before them was a hill slope, Konoha laid out in a yellow glow blanketed by the snow and glowing as the clouds overhead held in the lights from the village.

All was silent save the wind as the two stared out; Neji's eyes were bright as he looked first at the village then at Sakura. Sakura mouth was slightly open as she too took in the village, she had never seen it look so peaceful, it was like in a story there was no loud street vendors selling their trades, there were no children running playing games, no shinobi flitting back and forth on missions, just snow silently falling all around and the slight whistle of the wind making it dance.

"Listen." Neji whispered, pulling her close as she began to shiver.

"This Sakura, this is winter. Can you hear it?"

"…" She couldn't answer if she tried, this was all too new, all at once she felt like crying, how in the world had she gone her whole life without seeing, hearing this?

Turning around she looked into his solemn eyes her own showing that she did indeed see- hear winter and he nodded his eyes bright again as he looked up and listened as winter sang it's silent song, making peace fill the village.

Sakura looked up at Neji and was struck by the thought that she was actually enjoying his company and for the first time that night a rosy blush made its way onto her cheeks as she stared shyly at the Hyuuga male. 'Oh gosh, what is this feeling?' she wondered leaning further back into Neji's chest for warmth and her hand made its way to clutch at her sweater above her heart, why was it beating so hard?

'What is this feeling?' she wondered again looking at the village but only seeing silver orbs. 'Neji?'

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_A/n: So... did you like it? Please do tell me what you thought in a review, it would make my day. _

_I don't honestly know where to go from here, if I should make this a oneshot or an actual story... _

_Thanks so much for reading this, I hope you liked it,_

_Love, Jenn._


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